The Changing Economic Status of Alaska Natives, 1970-2007
By Stephanie Martin and Alexandra Hill
Note No. 5 • July 2009
F
orty years ago—when the discovery of North Slope Figure 1. Economic Indicators, Alaska Natives and All Americans
oil was about to transform Alaska’s economy—
(Averages, 2005-2007)
Alaska Natives had among the lowest income, employment, and education levels in the U.S. Today their
22%
Percent of people
economic conditions are better, but they still fall considbelow poverty line
13%
Alaska Natives
erably below averages among other Alaskans and other
All Americans
Americans.
13%
Households without
All
Alaskans
This note first reports how current economic conditions complete plumbing 0.4%
among Alaska Natives compare with U.S. averages, and
21%
then looks at changes since 1970 in poverty, employment, Unemployment rate
6.6%*
income, and education levels among Alaska Natives.
37%
We relied mainly on data from federal censuses in 1970, Percent adults (16 and
1980, 1990, and 2000 and from the annual American Com- older) not in labor force
26%
munity Survey for 2005 to 2007. We also used the most
Drop-out rate,
11.7%
recent population estimates from the Alaska Department
grades 9-12
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8.0%
of Labor and Workforce Development.
(2005-06 school year)
Background: Alaska’s Native Peoples
3.9%
Percent of people
8%
Alaska Natives have made their home in Alaska for
25 and older with
27%
thousands of years, and today there are an estimated 4-year college degrees
122,000 Alaska Native people, with many distinct culMedian Household Income (In 2007 Dollars)
tures and languages. They make up nearly 20% of all
Alaskans—a higher percentage of indigenous people
$42,703
Alaska Native HH
than in any other state.
$64,333
All Alaska HH
When the Russians arrived in Alaska, in the mid
$50,000
All U.S. HH
1700s, there were an estimated 50,000 Alaska Natives.
But their numbers declined from the 1700s through the * The national unemployment rate in mid-2009 had risen to 9.5%.
early 1900s—due to smallpox, influenza, and other dis- Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2005-2007; U.S. Department of Education,
eases introduced by Russians and later Americans. Only National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data
in 1970 did the population rebound to what it had been
300 years earlier.
But the number of Alaska Natives more than doubled between • The unemployment rate among Alaska Natives was three times the
1970 and 2000, and by 2020 it is projected to be nearly triple what national average during the period 2005-2007. Even today, when the
it was in 1970. There are also an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Alaska national average is at 9.5%, the Alaska Native rate is still twice as high.
Natives living outside Alaska, including some who are attend- • More than a third of Alaska Native adults aren’t in the labor force—they
ing colleges or universities. The figures presented here are only for
Alaska Natives living in Alaska. On page 5 we briefly describe how don’t have jobs and aren’t looking for work—compared with about
conditions among Alaska Natives inside and outside Alaska compare. one-quarter nationwide. Some people aren’t in the labor force because
of age or disabilities or other personal reasons, but in Alaska villages
Current Economic Comparisons
many people don’t look for jobs because they know there aren’t any.
• Poverty among Alaska Natives remains nearly twice as high as the • Alaska Native students drop out of high-school at a rate three times
U.S. average, with 22% of Alaska Native people and 13% of all Amerthe U.S. average,2 and the percentage of Alaska Native adults with
icans living below the federal poverty line (Figure 1).
college degrees is less than a third that of the U.S. as a whole.
• About 13% of Alaska Native households still lack plumbing, com• The median income of Alaska Native households is only two-thirds that
pared with less than half of 1% nationwide.
of all Alaska households and is close to 20% below the U.S. average.
Economic Changes Since 1970
Less Poverty
• Poverty among Alaska Natives is less than half what it was in 1970.
But as Figure 4 shows, the big improvement was between 1970 and
1980, and the percentage of Alaska Native people living below the
federal poverty line has stayed around 23% since 1990.
• The share of Alaska Native households without plumbing has dropped
from 51% in 1970 to 13% (Figure 5). But there has been essentially
no change since 2000. That’s partly because the remaining villages
without complete water and sewer systems require very expensive
Arctic technologies, and the villages lack the economic resources to
support ongoing operation and maintenance for such systems.
Alaska’s economy has grown tremendously since 1970, fueled
mostly by oil development but also by increased federal spending
for its many military and civilian activities in the state. Alaska Natives
have benefited from that growth in various ways, but on all economic
measures they still lag behind other Alaskans and other Americans.
Alaska Natives are far less likely to live below the poverty line
and much more likely to have jobs and high-school degrees today.
Alaska Native women in particular have moved into the labor force
in the past several decades. In 1970 just over one-quarter of adult
Native women had jobs; by 2000 that figure was approaching half.
But as Figure 2 shows, the Alaska Native population has more
than doubled since 1970. So keep in mind that when we’re talking
about percentage changes, a specific percentage in 2007 represents
many more people or households than it did in 1970.
Figure 3 shows the numbers. For example, the number of Alaska
Natives 16 and older—the potential labor force—nearly tripled
beween 1970 and 2007. So when we talk about changes in the percentage of Alaska Natives in the labor force, the larger percentage
in the labor force today also represents a very big increase in the
number of people of working age.
So how have some of the main measures of economic conditions
among Alaska Natives changed since 1970?
Figure 3. Growth in Numbers of Alaska Native
Adults and Households, 1970-2007
Persons 25 and older
9,700
Households
33,604
Figure 4. Poverty Among Alaska Natives
51%
47%
50%
51%
54%
Percent of people with incomes
at least 200% of poverty level
125,728
122,158
Projected
111,598
Percent of people living below poverty line
86,785
29%
64,103
1980
82,796
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, decennial census and American Community Survey
144,324
1970
61,620
27,800
Persons 16 and older
Figure 2. Alaska Native Population, Historical and Projected
50,801
1970
2007
18,200
28%
23%
23%
22%
1970
1980
1990
2000
2005-07
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 10-year censuses, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000; American
Community Survey, 2005-07
1990
2000
2007 2010
2020
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000; Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, 2007 and projections
Figure 5. Alaska Native Households
Without Complete Plumbing
51%
31%
22%
1970
1980
1990
13%
13%
2000
2005-2007
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 10-year censuses, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000; American
Community Survey, 2005-07
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More People in Work Force, But More Unemployed
• The percentage of Alaska Native adults not in the labor force has
dropped from 62% to 37% since 1970 (Figure 6). As we mentioned
earlier, many more women have moved into the labor force. Also,
the number of Alaska jobs multiplied, as oil
Figure 6. Percent of Alaska Native Adults (16 and Older)
development spurred economic growth. The
Either Not in Labor Force or Unemployed
regional and village business corporations created under terms of the 1971 Alaska Native 62%
Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) also employ
51%
many Native (and non-Native) Alaskans. Non44%
Not in labor forcea
profit Native corporations now also administer
37%
36%
a number of federal health and social service
programs for Alaska Natives. Those non-profits
22%
21.4%
Unemployedb 21%
are major employers in rural communities.
17.8%
18%
• Even as numbers of Alaska Natives with jobs
grew, so did unemployment. The recent unem2000
1990
1980
ployment rate is higher than it was in 1970. a 1970
b
The number of jobs hasn’t increased as fast as Not working and not actively looking for work Actively looking for work
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 10-year censuses, 1970-2000, and American Community Survey, 2005-07
the labor force. A growing Native population
means more and more people are looking for
work. And some of those considered “not in the labor force” (because they aren’t actively looking for work) would like to have jobs
but aren’t looking, because they live in small remote villages with
few jobs.
Real Incomes Stagnant After Improvement
• The real (adjusted for inflation) median income of Alaska Native
households is 50% higher than in 1970 (Figure 7). But virtually all
the improvement was in the 1970s, and real household incomes
have changed little since then. We don’t know all the reasons for
the improvement between 1970 and 1980. But one big reason was
that thousands of Alaska Native women became wage earners: the
number of Alaska Native women with jobs increased 150% in that
decade. Construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in the mid1970s also contributed; close to 6,000 Alaska Natives were hired
during construction.
Figure 7. Real (Adjusted for Inflation)
Median Income of Alaska Native Households
(In 2007 Dollars)
$41,759
$40,128
$39,684
1990
2000
$42,703
$28,516
1970
1980
2005-07
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 10-year censuses, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000; American
Community Survey, 2005-07
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2005-07
Education Level Up
• The share of Alaska Native adults who have at least a high-school
education has jumped from 14% to 46% since 1970 (Figure 8).
Before the 1970s, there were very few high schools in small
Alaska Native communities, and those who wanted to Figure 8. Educational Attainment Among Alaska Natives 25 and Older
attend high school generally had to leave their homes for
79%
boarding schools, hundreds or even thousands of miles
Less than high school
18%
away. But as a result of a court suit brought by a group of
rural Alaska Natives in the 1970s, the state government
14%
1970
High school graduate
46%
2005-07
built high schools in hundreds of remote villages.
6%
Some college
• Despite the big increase in high-school graduation, the
28%
drop-out rate among Alaska Native students is still much
College graduate 1%
higher than among all Alaska students or all students na(4-year degree)
8%
tionwide. In the 2005-06 school year, nearly 12% of Native
students in grades 9 to 12 dropped out, compared with 8% Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 10-year censuses, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000; American Community Survey, 2005-07
among all Alaska students and about 4% nationwide.
• Alaska Natives are much more likely to go on to college now than
in 1970. About 28% of Native adults have some college credit,
compared with 6% in 1970. And 8% have earned 4-year degrees,
compared with just 1% in 1970. The percentage of Native college
graduates still falls far short of the U.S. average of 27%—but until
recently, very few Natives had the chance to go to college.
Test Scores Up But Big Gap with Non-Natives
• Many more Alaska Native students are passing the High-School
Graduation Qualifying Exam now than a few years ago. They are
still less likely to pass than non-Natives, but the gap in scores has
narrowed (Figure 9).
Between 2003 and 2009, the share of 10th-grade Native students
passing the reading portion of the test increased from 45% to 76%,
and the share passing the math section was up from 50% to 64%.
The percentages of both Native and non-Native students passing the
writing section of the test declined.
Figure 9. Percent of Alaska Native and Non-Native 10th Graders Passing
Alaska’s High-School Graduation Qualifying Exam
2003
45%
Reading
77%
68%
Writing
50%
Math
Alaska Native
Non-Native
88%
76%
2009
76%
Reading
61%
Writing
64%
Math
Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
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94%
84%
85%
Alaska Natives Outside Alaska
We estimate there are 20,000 to 25,000 Alaska Natives living
outside the state. This is truly an estimate, because only limited information is available about them. We used U.S. census and American Community Survey information to make our estimate, counting
households as Alaska Native if they had at least one member who
was Alaska Native.
How do economic conditions among Alaska Natives outside the
state compare with those of Alaska Natives in Alaska?
• More have college degrees. About 17% of those outside Alaska
have college degrees, compared with 8% inside the state. We know
that some Alaska Natives travel outside Alaska specifically to get
more education, but there is no information on how many are
attending colleges and universities and may later return to Alaska.
• Median household incomes of Alaska Native households outside the
state are similar to those of households in Alaska.
• The share of households with incomes below the poverty line is
roughly the same among those inside and outside Alaska—about
one-quarter.
Endnotes
1. Specifically, we used the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
(IPUMS), Version 4, produced by the Minnesota Population Center.
For census years 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000, IPUMS is a 5% sample of individual data from the U.S. census. For non-census years,
data come from the annual American Community Survey (ACS).
Because ACS is a sample and uses different methods than the Alaska
Department of Labor uses to estimate population, ACS population
estimates are different from those of the Department of Labor. We
think the department’s total population estimates are more accurate than those of ACS, and we use the department’s estimates in
this note.
2. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
generally publishes drop-out figures based on dropouts from grades
7 through 12, which are lower than the figures from the National
Center for Education Statistics, which are based on dropouts from
grades 9 through 12. We use the NCES figures here because they allow us to make a comparison with U.S. averages.
Institute of Social and Economic Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: 907-786-5425
Web site: www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu
Editor: Linda Leask • Graphics: Clemencia Merrill
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